Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn have in his team at Paris National? - Patrick Aiken - TheGolfPA.com

Ryder Cup 2018: Who will
Thomas Bjorn have in his
 team at Paris National?

         Patrick Aiken

Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn
  have in his team at Paris National?

Thomas Bjorn is the first European captain to have four wildcard picks
They are under starter's orders, and recntly they have been o and
running, in the race to qualify for Europe's 2018 Ryder Cup team.

Once again, the qualifying system has been tweaked, as captain Thomas
Bjorn seeks a line-up to win back the trophy from what seems certain to be
an extraordinarily strong American side.

The qualifying period, which stretches from the Czech Masters until 2018's
Made in Denmark tournament, will yield eight players to be supplemented
by four captain's wildcard selections.

Of those automatic quali ers, the rst four will come from the European
Tour's money list, and the next quartet will be the continent's top
accumulators of world ranking points in the qualifying period.

The system is designed to accommodate those who loyally commit to the
Tour and elite Europeans such as Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Henrik
Stenson, who follow a more global schedule based around the PGA Tour in
the United States.

With four majors, four World Golf Championships and seven big-money
Rolex Series tournaments all counting, this process should reliably yield
Europe's top eight players, with the rest coming at Bjorn's discretion.

"I am so close to a lot of the players, many of them are great friends of
mine, and I am trying to balance the captaincy with those friendships," said
the 46-year-old Dane.

   Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn have in his team at Paris National?

Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn
  have in his team at Paris National?
"So many of those relationships extend beyond the Ryder Cup, and I've got
to realise that I have got to be a captain of these players and some will be
there and some will not.

"I have spoken to a couple of past captains already. I'll try to speak to most
of them along the way and gather as much information as I can from
them."

The biggest lesson Bjorn can learn from his predecessors is to avoid being
swayed by past Ryder Cup reputations.

He is the rst European skipper to have four selections, and the onus is on
him to assemble the best dozen players to represent their continent.

This should mean taking account of results in the qualifying period more
than the conventional wisdom of allowing past heroics in these biennial
jousts to sway selection.

Two years ago, few people argued with Darren Clarke picking Lee
Westwood, and in 2014 no-one queried Paul McGinley's decision to choose
Ian Poulter.

Both had served Europe with distinction.

Poulter (as a relatively in-form wildcard) inspired the 'miracle at Medinah'
in 2012, when Europe came from 10-4 down to achieve one their most
famous wins. But two years later he won just a single point.

Westwood, meanwhile, went to Hazeltine last year two points short of Sir
Nick Faldo's record of 25.

But he failed to add to his tally, losing all three of his matches.

   Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn have in his team at Paris National?

Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn
  have in his team at Paris National?

Westwood was beaten by Ryan Moore in the singles last year.
For both, it was a Ryder Cup too far, and the brutal truth is neither were
among Europe's top 12 players at the time of their selection.

Russell Knox was 20th in the world when he was overlooked by Clarke.
Prior to that, Paul Casey was overlooked in 2010, despite the Englishman
being in the world's top 10. Colin Montgomerie went with the experience of
Padraig Harrington, who claimed two out of four points at Celtic Manor.

Casey will need to rejoin the European Tour to be eligible for the match at
Paris National next year.

The 40-year-old insists he is prioritising his family by sticking with the PGA
Tour, and with the birth of his second child imminent there is little to
suggest a change in this stance is likely.

Currently ranked 14th in the world, there are only ve Europeans ahead of
Casey. A brilliant matchplayer, Bjorn would do well to persuade him to
rejoin.

Casey, like Knox in 2016, would be behind in the qualifying process
because he cannot earn points until he joins the Tour. But this is the sort of
scenario for which captain's picks should be used.

Likewise if a leading star has been unable to automatically qualify because
of injury, as might have been the case for McIlroy had this been a Ryder
Cup year.

   Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn have in his team at Paris National?

Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn
  have in his team at Paris National?
Sensibly, there will be a greater weighting for points earned in
tournaments in the latter stages of the quali cation process to re ect
those players in form nearer the time of the match.

Points earned in these tournaments will be multiplied by 1.5 for the two
quali cation lists, starting in May at BMW PGA Championship at
Wentworth.

Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are likely to be in a star-studded US team
in 2018
Bjorn knows he faces the toughest of tasks coming up with a team to
maintain Europe's unbroken winning run in home matches, which began
20 years ago at Valderrama.

They are likely to face an American team that contains major-winning
talent such as Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Brooks
Koepka, as well as the pugnacious Patrick Reed and seemingly permanent
top-10 finisher Rickie Fowler.

"I am not worried because I see so much great talent out there and there
are still those guys who have lots of experience too," Bjorn said.

"The way it looks today it is going to be a well-balanced team, I would like
to think."

But who can we expect to represent Europe in France this year?

   Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn have in his team at Paris National?

Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn
  have in his team at Paris National?
The four most likely automatic quali ers from the world rankings are
McIlroy, Spanish sensation Jon Rahm, Masters champion Garcia and last
year's Open winner Henrik Stenson.

This would leave an almighty scramble for the four spots from the Order of
Merit - Justin Rose, Alex Noren, Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari,
Rafa Cabrera Bello, Thomas Pieters, a resurgent Poulter, Martin Kaymer,
Matt Fitzpatrick, Chris Wood, Danny Willett, Knox, Ross Fisher, Jordan
Smith and Alexander Levy could all be in the mix.

It is clear Bjorn will have plenty of options from when it comes to his
wildcard selections. It could be an onerous and controversial process,
depending on the form of the leading lights over the next few months.

But, for what it's worth, this is how I see Europe lining up in Paris: McIlroy,
Rahm, Garcia, Stenson, Rose, Noren, Fleetwood, Cabrera Bello, Pieters,
Fitzpatrick, Levy and Smith.

Five rookies, I know, but if they are the men in form, go with them.

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   Ryder Cup 2018: Who will Thomas Bjorn have in his team at Paris National?